This period film is inspired by one of the most notorious scandals to have taken place in Edo-period Japan. The heroine, Ejima, was a lady of the Ooku, the harem of Edo Castle in which the Shogun’s mother, wife and concubines resided, forbidden from contact with any other man except in the presence of the Shogun. The institution played a key role in the Byzantine world of Japanese court politics during the Edo era.
In 1714, Lady Ejima was sent to pay her respects at a Buddhist temple in the city, and chose to pay an unauthorised visit to the kabuki theatre – a violation of protocol that was to have tragic consequences. This adaptation of a much told historical incident is based on a novelistic version by author Seiichi Funahashi, serialized in the “Tokyo Shinbun” newspaper during 1955.
Though little known in the West, director Hideo Oba (1910-1986) was one of the most commercially successful filmmakers of the postwar era, who had brought his professional touch to a wide range of films. He spent his entire directorial career at Shochiku, where his most famous film was the epic two-part melodrama, Kimi no na wa (What is Your Name?, 1953), a poignant account of the consequences of a romantic meeting during an air raid which became the biggest box office hit of its time. Here, he brings the Edo period to life with vitality and in vivid Eastmancolor, which captures the voluptuous beauty of period clothing and kabuki performance. According to S.A. Thornton, the film “is a beautiful example of the period films of the early fifties which were distinguished not only by an acute political sensibility, but by an attention to performance and pacing usually identified with the subtle character development of films about contemporary life. Chikage Awashima is particularly effective as the victim of both political and personal betrayal”. The “Kinema Junpo” reviewer likewise praised Awashima’s acting and the restraint of the performances in general, and compared the drama to a beautiful picture scroll being slowly unfolded.